Hopefully quick question- I need to go on two very short 3-day TATL round trips (EWR-LHR/LHR-EWR) one in March and one in May. Trying to price such a short TATL turn-around results in the expected extortionate fares (like $3k in economy extortionate) that the airlines like to charge desperate business travelers.
But is there anything practical or in the United T&Cs that would stop me from instead booking a very long EWR-LHR/LHR-EWR trip and another very long LHR-EWR/EWR-LHR trip nestled inside it? Thereby saving about $2500 per trip. Am I missing something obvious?
So what you are planning on doing is booking one EWR-LHR-EWR and one LHR-EWR-LHR. As noted, you are surely clean if you book the two RTs on separate airlines. Even if both booked on UA, if you don't make a habit of it, you are likely OK. If possible, you may wish to book the EWR-LHR-EWR first, then wait a few days or a week or so to book the LHR-EWR-LHR. Then if UA questions you about it, your story is that when you booked your first trip, you were expecting to stay in Europe for the full time period. But then some business or family issue intervened and you found out you were going to need to pop back to the U.S. to deal with it -- and you preferred to give your business to UA rather than BA.